Dancing or fighting? - Women seen 'boxing' men in dancehall party

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Having endured what many have considered to be abuse while attending dancehall sessions, women have been turning the tables on men recently by being the aggressors.

Before, women were used as human props, but now females are throwing men on to the ground and jumping on to them from elevated platforms.

A new video of women dancing with men and slapping them in the face may be the latest 'move'. But not everyone is pleased.

Some have been expressing that they have lost all hope in dancehall as actual dancing is being replaced by outrageous acrobatics and subtle acts of abuse.

Dancer TC, who said she was present at the event where the video footage was captured, said the incident is being blown out of proportion.

"People always a go have things fi say. I don't think the women were literally 'boxing' them (the men)," she said. "Because people a watch it pan dem phone it look like a box, but when you deh deh, you will see say anuh really box dem a box dem."

ACROBATIC DANCING

She said that despite the heavy condemnation, the acrobatic dancing that dancers use today is just fun.

Women's rights activist Dr Glenda Simms said she believes the trend of women becoming the aggressors on the dance floor has a lot to do with women wanting to enjoy some of the power that the men have had for years.

"Power was always given to men in every institution, whether it be the Church, the school or even the dancehall. Women have now internalised some of those values that the men have held on to all these years and are now doing things like the men," she said.

But Simms stressed that she does not believe acting like the men is the route women should take to get the attention they deserve.

"It will only be destructive. We cannot use the same approach ... because that approach has not helped the men, either," she said.

Simms is encouraging female dancers to find other ways to be as dominant on the dance scene as men without following their approach.